By GRAHAM LEE BREWER and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — With abortion rights poised to be one of the major issues in the 2024 election, a new poll shows that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States are highly supportive of legal abortion, even in situations where the pregnant person wants an abortion for any reason.
The poll from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that nearly 8 in 10 Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. They’re also supportive of federal government action to preserve abortion rights: Three-quarters of AAPI adults say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortions nationwide.
By comparison, an AP-NORC poll conducted last June found that 64% of U.S. adults think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 6 in 10 U.S. adults overall say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access.
AAPI adults are more likely than Americans overall to identify as Democrats, which may partially explain why their levels of support for legal abortion are higher than among the general population. But even among Democrats, AAPI adults are more supportive of legal abortion later in pregnancy. AAPI Democrats are especially likely to support legal abortion without any limits — more than half of this group say abortion should be legal in all cases, compared to 40% of Democrats overall.
AAPI Republicans are also more likely than Republicans overall to support a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide. More than half (57%) of AAPI Republicans think abortion should be legal in at least some cases, compared to 38% of Republicans in general. About half (51%) of AAPI Republicans also think Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide, while only 32% of Republicans overall want this to happen.
Even though AAPI voters are a fast-growing demographic with a particularly large presence in states like California, Texas and New York, their attitudes can often not be analyzed in other surveys because of small sample sizes, among other issues. This survey is part of an ongoing project focusing on AAPI Americans’ views.
High turnout in areas with large AAPI communities could help Democrats in competitive House districts, and a broader conversation about whether nonwhite voters are shifting to the right may lead to more courting of AAPI voters. The survey’s findings suggest that abortion could be a strong issue for Democratic candidates who are looking to reach AAPI communities, and a challenge for Republicans.
“It saddens me how politics got involved in this, and they really shouldn’t have,” said Debra Nanez, a 72-year-old retired nurse in Tucson, Arizona, and an Independent voter. Nanez identifies as Asian, Native American and Hispanic. “It’s a woman’s body. How can you tell us what we can do with our bodies, what we can keep and what we cannot keep? It’s ridiculous.”
An October 2022 survey by AP-NORC revealed that more than 40% of Americans trust Democrats more than Republicans to handle the issue of abortion, with the trust gap being wider among AAPI adults, as 55% of them trust Democrats while only 12% trust Republicans.
According to the survey, over half of AAPI adults were born outside the U.S. For many of these immigrants and their first-generation American children, abortion is not only seen as healthcare but also as a right that was not available to them in their home countries, as stated by Varun Nikore, executive director of AAPI Victory Alliance.
Nikore commented that the trust in Democrats regarding abortion policy could be influenced by attitudes from their home countries and the desire for improved healthcare access in the U.S.
Almost 60% of AAPI adults oppose Congress passing a law that allows states to set their own abortion laws, and only 14% support a nationwide ban on abortion access.
Joie Meyer, a 24-year-old health care consultant in Florida, mentioned the challenges of accessing abortion in her state, where it is prohibited after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Meyer emphasized the difficulty of receiving the procedure due to more restrictive abortion laws in nearby states like Alabama and Georgia.
Meyer expressed her concerns about feeling unprepared for parenthood at her age and the potential challenges of obtaining an abortion, considering the restrictions in her state and neighboring areas.
Born in China but raised in the U.S. since infancy, Meyer has made plans with a friend in California in case she needs an abortion. While traveling across the country for the procedure might be more time-consuming, she desires the support of a friend during the recovery period.
Meyer emphasized the importance of emotional support and care during the abortion process, stating that she wouldn't want to navigate the physical and emotional pain alone.
The survey, conducted from Feb. 5-14, 2024, included 1,172 AAPI adults and was designed to be representative of the population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Graham Lee Brewer is a member of AP’s Race & Ethnicity team based in Oklahoma City, and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux serves as AP’s polling editor.
